LEL AND MIKITENKO FORCED TO MISS BUPA 30TH GREAT NORTH RUN
Two-time champion Martin Lel has reluctantly been forced to withdraw from the Bupa 30th Great North Run on Sunday through injury.
The Kenyan winner of the world's biggest half marathon in 2007 and 2009, lost his battle to score a third victory in what would have been a testing contest against Haile Gebrselassie. The 29-year-old was scheduled to go head-to-head with the world's greatest ever distance runner in the half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields. Abderrahim Bouramdane, the Moroccan who finished fourth at the Virgin London Marathon in April has been named as a replacement with more expected to follow. Germany's Irina Mikitenko, who has missed training in the last week suffering from a cold, has pulled out of the women's race. Editors notes Nova International The Bupa 30th Great North Run is brought to you event organisers Nova International and is sponsored by Bupa. Nova International, headed by Olympic Medallist Brendan Foster is one of the UK’s leading event management and sports marketing agencies. The company’s current brand portfolio also includes some of the biggest running events in the world all based on the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon event with over 54,000 entries. Nova International was established in 1988 and has a strong sporting pedigree. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nova have established themselves as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. For more information please visit www.greatrun.org. In The Long Run… 30 Years of the Great North Run Celebrating the 30th staging of the Bupa Great North Run, this major new exhibition explores this enormously popular event. In The Long Run… 30 Years of the Great North Run looks at the significant role this event has played in reflecting and shaping the region's cultural identity. As well as the well known stories of elite runners, In The Long Run will also explore the huge organisational effort behind the Bupa Great North Run, documenting the event’s community spirit and creating a powerful piece of social history. Alongside interactive exhibits, memorabilia and star objects, In The Long Run will present artwork from the archives of Bupa Great North Run Culture and new commissions will be presented by Sir Peter Blake and Claire Leona Apps. About Bupa Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing. Employing over 50,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. For more information, visit www.bupa.com.
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